With International Flavor, Eagles Sign Five to Letters of Intent

Two players from Germany, two from Australia and one from
Arizona highlight Jim Hayford’s first recruiting class

One of the top high school players in the state of Arizona, as
well as two players from Germany and two from Australia, have
signed letters of intent to attend Eastern Washington University
and play basketball for the Eagles, head men’s basketball
coach Jim Hayford announced Wednesday (Nov.
16).

The five players include a point guard, and four players
6-foot-6 or taller, including a 7-foot-1 player who will be the
tallest player in school history. Eastern has four seniors on this
year’s team, and three of them are either 6-7 or 6-8.

“We knew we needed to sign a class that would improve our
front court, based on us having seniors we would be losing,”
said Hayford, who will also have 6-10 redshirt Martin
Seiferth available next season. “When you look at
the players we are redshirting and the players we are signing,
we’ve improved our front court and have added to our overall
skill base.”

Danny Powell, one of only two juniors on the
Arizona Republic First-Team 5A All-State team a year ago,
signed with EWU. A 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward from Phoenix, he
averaged 19.2 points and 10.5 rebounds as a junior for Desert Vista
High School after playing two years previously at Mesa (Ariz.) High
School.

One of the Australian signees is 5-foot-9 point guard
Daniel Hill from Sydney, Australia. Hill played on
Australia’s U17 National Team, which placed sixth in the 2010
U17 World Championships in Germany. In the tournament on July 3,
his team lost 76-68 to Canada and Gonzaga point guard Kevin Pangos.
Both players had three assists, and Hill had four points and Pangos
scored nine.

Also in 2010, Hill made a game-winning 3-pointer with five
seconds remaining to lead his New South Wales Metro squad to the
Australian U18 Men's National Championship with a 57-55 victory
over VIC Metro (Basketball Victoria). He also led the U20 NSW team
to a fourth-place finish in 2011, and he served in a
captain’s role for all three teams.

The other Australian is Venky Jois, who is from
Boronia, Australia, and attended Box Hill High School in Melbourne.
The 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward was the South East Australian
Basketball League (SEABL) Youth Player of the Year in 2011, an
award given to the top under-23 player and previously won by
college and NBA standouts Patty Mills and Andrew Bogut.

The two Germans include 7-foot-1, 285-pound center
Frederik Jörg from Korschenbroich and 6-6,
220-pound forward Thomas Reuter from Breckerfeld.
Both attended tryouts for the U20 Germany squad in December 2010.
Jörg represented Baskets Akademie Weser-Ems and Reuter
represented BSV Wulfen and Team Phoenix Hagen.

Reuter also represented Germany in Hillsboro, Ore., in August
2011 in the fifth-annual NIKE Global Challenge. The three-day event
showcases the top talents from across the world, as they competed
in an eight-team, 12-game tournament.

“Each one of these young men are gifted players who can
help us in our goal of being a perpetual post-season team,”
Hayford added.

Eastern already has one Australian and one German in its
program. Junior Jordan Hickert is from Bunbury,
Australia, and Seiferth, a transfer from Oregon, is from
Berlin.

Eastern has had several 6-11 players in its history as a NCAA
Division I member (since 1983-84), with the most recent being
Jeremy McCulloch (2002-05). The only former Eagle taller than that
is 7-foot Uli Sledtz from Geisenkirchen, West Germany. He
transferred from the University of Washington and played for
Eastern in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons.

More on Powell . . .

Hayford on Powell: “Danny is a hard-nosed player who
can play a physical game, and is an outstanding shooter for
somebody his size. He has an inside-outside game, and will be
college-ready upon arrival.”

Will graduate from Desert Vista High School in 2012. Besides
earning All-State honors as a junior, Powell was a First-Team
All-5A Fiesta League selection as he led Desert Vista to a 21-10
record overall and 6-4 mark in league play. Before he transferred
to the school, the Thunder were just 11-15 the year before.

Desert Vista jumped out to a 14-3 record and won the Platinum
Division of the Las Vegas Prep Championship with a 6-0 record.
Powell was the tournament’s MVP, averaging 26 points and 14
rebounds, scoring 11 points in a 45-42 victory over Liberty
(Nevada) in the title game.

He also averaged 1.1 assists per game and scored 576 total
points. Powell scored at least 20 on 14 occasions, and had 30 or
more three times. He scored a career-high 36 in a 75-66 victory
over Eldorado (Nevada), making 12-of-15 shots from the floor and
10-of-11 free throws.

For the season, he made 53 percent of his shots (192-of-359),
including 46 percent of his 3-point attempts (46-of-101). He also
made 85 percent of his free throws (146-of-171) to break school
records for made free throws and percentage.

He lost 20 pounds between his sophomore and junior seasons in
high school. As a sophomore at Mesa High School, he averaged 12.5
points and 4.7 rebounds per game, with a high of 26 points in a
92-90 victory over North High School. Twice he had 10 rebounds.
Mesa finished the season 25-5 overall and 9-1 league play.

In his freshman season at Mesa, he averaged 9.0 points and 3.3
rebounds for the Jackrabbits, who finished 10-15 overall. He heads
into his senior season with a career total of 1,166 points and 535
rebounds.

Powell also played AAU basketball for Team Superstar, the
Arizona Dream Team and Team Hunter Elite. He was born March 4,
1993, in Mesa, Ariz., and is the son of Glen and Dee Dee Powell. He
intends on majoring in communications at Eastern.

More on Hill . . .

Hayford on Hill: “Daniel is a very heady player whose
basketball intelligence will pay great dividends for Eastern in the
future. He’s a dead-eye shooter, an ambidextrous ball-handler
and an amazing passer. He is regarded by many people I respect as
the best point guard in Australia.”

Graduated from Newington College High School in 2011. He led
Newington to a runner-up finish in the Australian Schools
Championships. He made a 3-pointer to knot the score at 79, but his
team lost 81-79, as he finished with 20 points and was selected as
the tournament MVP. He was a four-year starter and led his team to
the conference championship all four seasons, and also served as
captain. His school was first in the state and second in the nation
in 2010, first in state and third in the nation in 2009 and third
in the state in 2008. He was selected to the New South Wales
Independent Schools All-State team from 2009-11, averaging 15.1
points, 4.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game in that span.

He also played club basketball for the Sutherland Sharks, and
competed in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in
2009. He was also selected to compete for the Australian
Institute of Sport (AIS) men’s basketball program.

In addition, he participated in the 2011 Nike All-Asia Camp and
was selected to the all-star team. He was also selected to the
all-tournament team in the Avery Air Invitational Tournament in
Plano, Texas. Twice he earned awards as sportsman of the year
– one each at the high school and club levels.

He was born on Jan. 4, 1993, in Sydney, Australia. His parents
are Les and Vicki Hill. Interested in pursuing a degree in
construction management or health services at Eastern.

More on Venky Jois . . .

Hayford on Jois: “Venky brings to us freakish
athleticism with great basketball I.Q. This will be a tremendous
combination, as he will match-up well with other four men (power
forwards) in the Big Sky Conference. Not only will he be one of the
top incoming basketball players at Eastern Washington, but he will
be one of our top incoming students academically as
well.”

In his first season in the SEABL, he averaged 9.3 points, 5.9
rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while making 48.7 percent of his
shots from the field. In 2010, he led his U18 Dandenone Rangers
team to the championship in the McDonald’s National Junior
Classic. While playing for the Victoria State Team in 2010, he
averaged 8.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and nearly one assist per game,
while making 61.2 percent of his field goal attempts.

He was selected to the 12-player Victorian Secondary
Schools’ Sports Association Boys 18 and Under Basketball
Team. As part of the team, he competed in the School Sport
Australia Event in Newcastle.

Graduated from Box Hill High School in 2011, and was selected to
the Victoria All-State team. He also participated in swimming,
soccer, Australian rules football, cross country and athletics at
Box Hill. He won numerous awards while he was there from
2006-2010.

He was born July 7, 1993, in Upper Ferntree Cully in Australia.
Full name is Venkatesha Jois, but goes by “Venky.” His
parents are Markandeya and Jennifer Jois. He intends on majoring in
biology at Eastern.

More on Jörg . . .

Hayford on Jörg: “Frederik is obviously a very
big person. He plays the game with great intelligence, and is
effective in using his size to give us a great advantage at the low
post. I think he will combine with Martin Seiferth to create one of
the biggest post combinations in the Big Sky
Conference.”

Jörg recently played for Akademie Weser-Ems in the U19
Nachwuchs Basketball Bundesliga League (NBBL), averaging 14.7
points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game. He ranked
second in the league in blocked shots, seventh in rebounding and
fourth in double-doubles with seven (in 12 games). He made 59.0
percent of his shots from the field and also averaged 2.0 assists
per game. His single game high for rebounds was 25.

He will graduate from Gymnasium Eversten in 2012. He was born on
Aug. 11, 1992, in Saarbrücken, Germany. His parents are
Hermann and Martina Jörg. He intends on majoring at Eastern in
business and economics.

More on Reuter . . .

Hayford on Reuter: “Thomas has had great experience
internationally representing the country of Germany. He’s a
very physical player who has interior and perimeter skills.
He’s an outstanding passer and a very strong rebounder. He is
a great addition to our program.”

In 2010, Reuter helped the U18 German National Team to a
runner-up finish at the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament.

While playing with BSV Wulfen in the Bundesliga ProB second
league in Germany, his team reached the 2010-11 playoffs. He
averaged 11.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

While playing for Team Phoenix Hagen in the 2009-10 season in
the Nachwuchs Basketball Bundesliga League (NBBL), his team reached
the final 16 of the German Championships, as he averaged 16.6
points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In 2010-11, he
averaged 20.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.4 steals per
game.

While playing for Team Phoenix Hagen in 2008-09, his team
reached the quarterfinals of the U19 German Championships. His team
lost in a best-of-three series against Alba Berlin. During the
season, Reuter averaged 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists
per game.

He graduated from Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium in Hagen, Germany, in
2011. In 2007, his school placed third in the German Championship
(officially named the Jugend trainiert für Olympia).

In 2006, he helped lead Nordrhein-Westfalen – a county
team from the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region -- win the German
Championship.

Reuter was born Jan 25, 1992, in Hagen, Germany. His parents are
Helmut and Bäsbel Reuter.